The laughter around the country may be dying down about how
Atlanta copes with snow, but I’m guessing that locally the conversations about “snow-mageddon”
will continue for years to come.
(Did you see The Daily Show?) The day
the ice and snow hit the city, most of us were at work or school and suddenly
during the lunch hour the metro Atlanta area was scrambling for home. Unfortunately for thousands getting home took
time, a lot of time.
I was lucky. Instead
of driving that day I took the train but even that was a challenge the day of
the winter storm. There was a fire on
the platform at one of the main stations so train lines were single-tracking
which created a severe back up. My
normal 20 minute ride turned into an overcrowded, one and a half hour ride,
which was not bad compared to the many horror stories I’ve heard.
So during the storm something incredible happened. Stories of incredible acts of kindness began
surfacing in the news, on Facebook and in local neighborhood email discussion
groups. Given that people were stranded –
on roads, in cars, at work, in schools, etc., people everywhere in the city
began to extend a helping hand to those who needed it. At our house we took in a young mother with
a two-year-old. These two headed out of
the city trying to make a 27 mile ride south.
After SEVEN MILES AND SEVEN HOURS in the car, my friend had to stop and
bed down for the night. With no diapers
or provisions for a little one in our house, we sent out an email to our
neighborhood. Within minutes several
neighbors called with suggestions and offers and one neighbor brought us
diapers, wipes, toys and more. One of my
colleagues was featured on national news.
She and her family loaded up their son’s wagon, filling it with water,
food and blankets and hauled everything to a freeway near their house offering
relief and refuge to stranded motorists.
We quickly learned of a website that was set up to help people stranded
with individuals willing to help located in the same area. It was amazing. When I first signed up there were a few
thousand people online. Within hours
29,000 people had joined in the group and by the end of the first 24 hours of
need, 54,000 people had joined the Facebook group and were helping connect
needs with help.
On Friday as I got back on the train to head back to work my
mind kept wandering back to all the wonderful stories of kindness and
helpfulness that I’d heard over the past few days. But suddenly it was as if everyone had shed the cloak of
kindness and put back on their old uniform of apathy. What if we could extend the spirit of kindness
all the time, every day?
One of the events that was scheduled to take place at my
workplace the week of the storm was the Ron Clark Academy’s, Amazing
Shake. The event was rescheduled for
this week and I almost skipped it because of meeting conflicts but WOW, was I
glad that I participated. It is almost
impossible to describe how impressive, confident, engaged, enthusiastic,
interesting, effervescent and eager these young people are. I’ve worked with kids my entire life and
never have I seen 30 kids with such attitudes and spirit. The Amazing Shake is an all-day networking
competition for Ron Clark Academy kids in grades 5-8. Watching these kids easily walk into a room
filled with business leaders, making introductions, shaking hands and getting
to know the participants was a jaw-dropping experience. Our role was to serve as judges but I felt
like I spent more time observing and learning.
It was a powerful sight to see.
So what does this have to do with kindness? The
Amazing Shake is a competition and throughout the day business leaders judge
the kids, selecting the best and eventually naming one champion and one runner
up. As the day continued we continued to
get updates on the kids, keeping up with those in the lead. The night the event ended we got an email
that was an affirmation that kindness and goodness continues. The next generation is already passing it
on. Here is the email we received from
one of our attorneys who leads volunteer work for youth:
Here is the reason that I fell in love with the kids at RCA
and I'm such an advocate for the school. Ron Clark, faculty and staff are
not only creating geniuses and making incredible people out of those kids.
After
Mariah won the Amazing Shake, her competitor Jacob was heartbroken. She
went through her gift basket and found an iPad Mini. She turned around
and gave the iPad Mini to Jacob for being such a valiant competitor. What
an incredible gesture. See the attached picture.
I'm
confident in our future with kids like those are RCA in the next generation.
What would the world be like if we all went out of our way to share a
kindness or do something to help someone in need every day? Today, I'm joining The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sundays.
